1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an inflator which produces an inflation gas to inflate and deploy an airbag of an airbag device in the event of a collision of a vehicle or the like.
2. Description of Related Art
An inflator is mounted on an airbag device for mounting on a vehicle or the like. The inflator is filled with a gas generating agent and/or a compressed gas and produces an inflation gas out of the gas generating agent and/or compressed gas for inflating an airbag instantly for protecting a vehicle occupant in the event of a collision.
JP2002-537208 A and JP2001-517575 A disclose inflators wherein a gas leak tracer such as odor-intensive material or a radioactive isotope is added to a gas generating agent and/or a compressed gas whereby a gas leakage can be detected.
However, the inflators disclosed in the above-identified prior art references are capable of detecting a problem of the inflator only through a detection of gas leakage. There is a further demand for detecting a degradation of a gas generating agent stored in the inflator since a degraded gas generating agent is highly likely to fail to exert a predetermined power when ignited.